As is known, a work compartment of an electric household appliance, such as a dishwashing compartment, is closed, when the appliance is running, by a normally hinged door. The door of a dishwashing machine is normally mounted to swing vertically, and the user must be able to open the door during the wash cycle to load more dishes (even only for rinsing) or detergent additives, or even simply to check on progress of the washing cycle. In which case, the wash cycle must be stopped before the door can be opened, to prevent splashing, and then started again once the door is closed.
Since the door must be closed fluidtight to prevent leakage, it is normally equipped with a fork/striker type latch device to ensure sufficient pressure is exerted on the peripheral door seal when the door is closed.
Since a certain amount of force must therefore be applied by the user on the door to open it, the door must normally be equipped with a handle or other gripping devices, which are unsightly and bulky. Dishwashing machines are available, in which the door is pressed open/shut (push-push type), and which therefore have no handles. The latch devices required in this case, however, are complex, expensive, and not always reliable (on account of the necessity to ensure fast stoppage of the wash cycle).
A demand therefore exists for a latch device which is safe and dependable, and which can be handlefree controlled by the user, e.g. by simply pressing a button.
Such a system, for a washing machine, is described in Zanussi Patent EP 0518147, in which, however, the door is opened by means of a servomechanism controlled electrically by the pushbutton. Such a solution is obviously unsatisfactory, both in terms of the high cost involved and the impossibility of opening the door in the event of power failure.